Well, I had to disrupt the 3-3-3-3 class system, but given that, A) recruiting has gotten nearly IMPOSSIBLE for small D1 schools, and B) the new recruit generation has severely impacted the skills of new recruits, I'm not too upset about it. Anyway, the first recruit is a JuCo shooting guard who will see a lot of time this year. Bobby Cosner (#66 SG) still has a lot of room to grow, and while he'll obviously never be a star, he'll be fine, especially in his senior year when he'll go up against some pretty poor D1 players in comparison to what he would have faced under the old engine. I like the high potential in defense and outside shooting, and everything else is at a generally-OK level, with most of his skills being able to be improved at least a bit.

Athleticism	58
Speed	67
Rebounding	15	(low potential)
Defense	71	(high potential)
Shot Blocking	1
Low-post	17	(low potential)
Perimeter	68	(high potential)
Ball Handling	53
Passing	62
Work Ethic	39
Stamina	82
Durability	49

I went worldwide again, as I did last year. This year, the excursion to another continent produced Shen Xia (international so unranked), a decent SF prospect. Some of his potential is unknown, but he's got a lot of room to improve in athleticism and perimeter, which made me happy enough to go after him. Like Cosner, he wouldn't have been a target in the old engine, but in the new one, he'll be just fine, provided the rest of his areas can improve a bit. The scouting report is below.

Athleticism	57
Speed	53
Rebounding	30
Defense	60
Shot Blocking	19
Low-post	47
Perimeter	52
Ball Handling	50
Passing	27
Work Ethic	46
Stamina	69
Durability	73

- Good athleticism - I'm going to go out on a limb and say that he could improve substantially if he really works at it.
- Doesn't look comfortable with his back to the basket - I don't see any more upside here.
- Passing needs work - with more experience I expect to see TREMENDOUS improvement.
- Can knock the outside shot down if open - I see such solid fundamentals that with enough practice I don't see why he can't be a *significantly* better shooter than he is today.
- Runs the court very well - probably not going see much improvement from where he is.
- Mediocre student in the classroom and on the court.

Finally, I snagged a recruit that may have even been competitive in the old engine. Michael Boren (#284 overall, #74 PF) won't play much this year, but is an excellent developmental prospect. He has great athleticism, and high potential in almost every key area for a big, with the only drawbacks being low potential in shot blocking and a limited ceiling in stamina. I like him a lot, and he partially salvages an otherwise-mediocre class.

Athleticism	76
Speed	24
Rebounding	65	(high potential)
Defense	67	(high potential)
Shot Blocking	64	(low potential)
Low-post	58	(high potential)
Perimeter	1	(high potential)
Ball Handling	24
Passing	33
Work Ethic	42
Stamina	64
Durability	39

THOUGHTS ON RECRUITING

Phew.

Let's face facts: The new recruits...well, they stink, compared to what we're all used to. I never would have targeted Cosner or Xia in past years, but adjustments had to be made, given that the few good players close to me were being snapped up by Big 6 programs. Hell, I even had to promise them minutes to knock off Sims that had landed on them previously. It's not like they'll be bad players. Comparably, in fact, they could be quite good. But the new laws of the land really make it tough for small schools to compete with the big dogs, so changes needed to be made on my end.

Anyway, now that that rant is out of the way...Boren is a legit prospect who I look forward to grooming into a post presence (well, as much of a post presence as can be expected in the new engine). Cosner isn't great, but as an old-engine guard, he'll be pretty good as a senior. Finally, Xia could be good in the spot-up shooter role, but there are still some unknowns (most notably, we don't know his potential in rebounding and defense).

This class is a lot of "maybes" and "could be's." This could well be my last season at J-State, given how tough it was to pull in a recruiting class that in no way measures up to what I'd been able to haul in previously. For now, I'm reasonably comfortable going to war with what I have, but we'll see how long that lasts. It's tough to grade a class in this context, but I'll give it a C+, with potential to either improve or drop depending on how the new recruits come into the new engine.

i love reading these posts btw...

Thanks for the support, trobone. Much appreciated.

Here's the roster of returning Gamecocks.

Name	Yr.	Pos.	A	SPD	REB	DE	BLK	LP	PE	BH	P	WE	ST	DU	FT	TOT
Richard Schaefer	Jr.	PG	58	98	2	81	12	2	50	100	99	72	86	66	D	726
Victor Thompson	So.	PG	34	77	5	92	2	11	41	84	80	34	78	72	B+	610
Elwood McMillan	Sr.	SG	63	93	2	67	14	5	97	75	63	42	81	99	B+	701
Albert Maness	Sr.	SF	61	75	42	98	43	55	81	43	60	46	80	88	C+	772
Joseph Fiorillo	Jr.	PF	49	56	76	86	79	73	35	22	26	60	80	64	C-	706
Dikembe Arambula	So.	PF	52	61	77	67	70	70	31	9	30	26	67	45	C+	605
Donald Byrd	Sr.	C	69	56	96	61	82	97	1	2	53	36	86	84	B-	723
John Fuller	Jr.	C	83	50	96	64	95	95	10	17	48	64	76	68	A-	766
Stuart Young	So.	C	41	32	81	90	89	92	1	12	40	45	71	72	C-	666

I must say, I DO like the new forums for their copy-paste compatibilities with Macs. I may actually go back to doing game-by-game results if this keeps up.

Anyway, this season will be interesting. Given the emphasis on perimeter shooting, the starting lineup will probably be Schaefer, McMillan, Maness, Fiorillo, and Fuller. It feels weird not starting Byrd, but he'll be a dominant reserve, and Fiorillo's defensive and perimeter advantages weigh heavily in the new engine. If it doesn't work, I'll change it, but for now, that's the plan.

Albany (0-0)


Good win in our first exhibition. I monkeyed around with the distro, and that's why Byrd got a ton of looks off the bench. Not like it hurt us here, against a Sim team with a very shallow frontcourt, but I don't anticipate those kinds of outbursts happening too much. Still, nice effort all around.

Hey coach, you asked me to give you my thoughts on how everyone looked after the offseason and I think I've seen enough to do that. I only jotted down things that stood out to me...

Richard Schaefer:
athleticism: limited upside
ball handling: limited upside
durability: limited upside
passing: limited upside
perimeter shooting: limited upside
speed: limited upside
ft shooting: limited upside

(Improvable in rebounding, defense, shot blocking, low-post, and stamina.)

Victor Thompson:
durability: big upside
low post moves: limited upside
passing: big upside
perimeter shooting: limited upside
stamina: big upside

(Plenty of room to improve, but a so-so work ethic may hinder things.)

Elwood McMillan:
ball handling: limited upside
defensive fundamentals: limited upside
durability: limited upside
passing: limited upside
perimeter shooting: limited upside
shot blocking: limited upside
ft shooting: limited upside

(Can still improve in athleticism, speed, rebounding, low-post, and stamina.)

Bobby Cosner:
athleticism: big upside
defensive fundamentals: big upside
low post moves: limited upside
perimeter shooting: big upside
rebounding: limited upside
ft shooting: limited upside

(The "big upside" in athleticism is encouraging. That wasn't in his FSS report.)

Albert Maness:
ball handling: limited upside
defensive fundamentals: limited upside
durability: limited upside
low post moves: limited upside
passing: limited upside
perimeter shooting: limited upside
rebounding: limited upside
shot blocking: limited upside
ft shooting: limited upside

(Athleticism, speed, and stamina, so lots of conditioning work.)

Shen Xia:
athleticism: big upside
ball handling: big upside
durability: big upside
low post moves: limited upside
passing: big upside
perimeter shooting: big upside
rebounding: big upside
shot blocking: limited upside
speed: limited upside
stamina: limited upside
ft shooting: limited upside

(Well, that's not bad. The limited upside in stamina hurts, but he has big upside in a LOT of areas.)

Joseph Fiorillo:
ball handling: limited upside
passing: limited upside
perimeter shooting: limited upside
speed: limited upside
stamina: big upside
ft shooting: limited upside

(Lots of room to improve still. Given his work ethic, he'll develop nicely.)

Dikembe Arambula:
athleticism: big upside
defensive fundamentals: big upside
perimeter shooting: limited upside
shot blocking: big upside
speed: limited upside
stamina: big upside

(Didn't develop a lot his freshman year due to his low work ethic, so there's a lot of similarities here to his initial scouting report.)

Michael Boren:
defensive fundamentals: big upside
low post moves: big upside
perimeter shooting: big upside
rebounding: big upside
shot blocking: limited upside

(Nothing new.)

Donald Byrd:
athleticism: limited upside
durability: limited upside
low post moves: limited upside
perimeter shooting: big upside
rebounding: limited upside
shot blocking: limited upside
speed: limited upside
ft shooting: limited upside

(Stamina and wing stats.)

John Fuller:
ball handling: limited upside
durability: limited upside
low post moves: limited upside
rebounding: limited upside
shot blocking: limited upside
speed: limited upside
ft shooting: limited upside

(Conditioning and wing stats.)

Stuart Young:
passing: limited upside
speed: limited upside
stamina: big upside
ft shooting: limited upside

(Should continue to develop into a good pure center.)

Anyway, maybe some guidelines for practice time? If I notice anything else, I'll let you know.

- John

-----

OK, the new revelations about Cosner and Xia bump up my grade to a B-. The low potential in stamina for Xia hurts, but it's not like he'll be useless in that regard, and the high athleticism Cosner will develop will help us considerably.

Gardner-Webb (0-0)

Another blowout over a Sim. In this one, though, the distros were a bit more of what I'll expect on a consistent basis, with Fuller and Maness leading the first string and Byrd doing damage against reserves.

Jacksonville St. (1-1)

I didn't expect to win this, a road game with a good Big 6 team. We played OK on offense, but mediocre defense and a big FT disparity ensured we wouldn't come away with the upset.

Jacksonville St. (1-1)

Any win on the road over a human-coached team is a good one. In this case, I'll take the win despite almost blowing a sixteen-point halftime lead due to horrid defense. The zone REALLY has problems, especially in road games where zone teams are at a disadvantage going in.

Jacksonville St. (1-2)

This stunk, but when you're on the road against the #10 team, you can't expect to win. Still, I wanted to at least be competitive, and after we got blitzed 38-17 in the first half, that couldn't happen.

Jacksonville St. (2-4)

Here, we get a nice blowout win. It was over a bad Sim team, but still, nice to see.

Iona (4-2)

This, a home LOSS to a Sim? NOT nice. Horrid FT shooting, bad rebounding...just a horrible moment in my WIS career.

Jacksonville St. (2-4)

Expected a loss. Didn't expect a blowout.